A slash of Blue

A slash of Blue —
A sweep of Gray —
Some scarlet patches on the way,
Compose an Evening Sky —
A little purple — slipped between —
Some Ruby Trousers hurried on —
A Wave of Gold —
A Bank of Day —
This just makes out the Morning Sky.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem A slash of Blue

23 Comments

In case you really lack that much knowledge on Dickinson’s work or any poetry at all, there is always the literal meaning and then another meaning that you have to investigate or read between the lines to get!
Kind of like the childhood nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie Pocket Full of Posies Ashes Ashes We all Fall Down” I believe it is referring to the Plague, or something I can’t quite remember but I do know “We All Fall Down” is referring to death. Please don’t make comments if they don’t require even a shred of intelligence.

Some of you people dont know what your talking about. Some of you peoples comments dont have anything to do with Emily Dickinson’s topic. Ex- the 2 people (MARISOL and Katie from United States) talking about the Civil War. The poem is talking about the colors of the morning and evening sky NOT the CIVIL WAR. PLEASE STICK TO THE TOPIC NEXT TIME YOU MAKE A COMMENT.

This is such an interesting poem with a double meaning. I love double meanings, they are so neat. You know the person really thought out their poem before making it, you know they hold it dear to their hearts, and hope that other people will love it just like they do, which I hope we all do.

this poem is definitely about the civil war. The civil war was one of the most influential times on Dickinsons poetry. The slash of Blue is representative of marching Union soldiers, while the streak of gray is the confederates early in the morning. red patches could be representative of the bandages used for the soldiers wounds. The evening sky is Emily’s wish for the war to finish. Purple slipped between might be cannon smoke as shelooks out the window. ruby trousers hurried on is the wounded soldier being stretchered quickly away. the repetition of morning sky elaborates on how gruesome war is in a matter of moments. Maybe I’m completely off but thats what I saw.

The poem has vivid and colorful imagery. And the diction is simple and comprehensible. When the gold wave is mentioned I get a beautiful picture of the sun. This free verse poem is really good also because of the figurative language within its context.

I am doing a project for literature and i don’t understand most of these poems. But this one I understand perfectly, Whenever I am looking at the sky I always think of it as a perfect painting and this and this poem explains my idea perfectly.

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